


Are You Familiar with Chaos Theory

by HumbleFarmer



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 1940s, 1970s, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Enemies to Friends, Fae & Fairies, Fix-It, Gen, Mastermind, Road Trip (but through time), Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-02-16 05:23:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18684994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HumbleFarmer/pseuds/HumbleFarmer
Summary: After Steve returned the space stone to 1970, he planned to travel back to the 1940s and live the years taken from him. Instead, he finds himself confronting Loki, entangling with the fae (who exist, too, apparently), and going on a road trip through space and time with the trickster god.Oh, he's definitely screwed up this timeline. Or actually, maybe not.





	1. The Fae Queen Wears Overalls

Steve returned the last of the infinity stones, the Tesseract in 1970, when he noticed a familiar face leaving the army base. He almost overlooked the tall figure in the casual uniform of a soldier off duty, and his gaze struggled to latch onto him, but he knew those green eyes, the high cheekbones, even the elegant sway of his walk.

Loki neared the checkpoint where he would have to show a legitimate ID to enter or leave, but Steve already knew nothing so plebeian would stop the god of mischief and chaos. Forgetting that he, too, was trying to lay low, he quickened his pace and grabbed Loki’s shoulder just before he reached the fence.

“Whatever you’re planning, I wouldn’t,” Steve said.

Loki turned to him with curious eyes, and for the first time, Steve noticed how young he looked. His dark hair barely brushed his shoulders.

“You can see me,” Loki said.

“Hey!”

The soldier posted at the gate hurried toward them with his hand reaching for his sidearm. When Loki tensed, Steve squeezed his shoulder. “Don’t run,” he demanded under his breath. “You’ll just draw more attention to us.”

“You were the one to attract attention in the first place,” Loki hissed.

Steve half expected Loki to ignore him and disappear, but he obligingly imitated Steve and raised both his arms when the soldier ordered them. The soldier asked for IDs, and once again, Steve expected Loki to offer some illusion, but either he hadn’t been on Earth long enough to know what to mimic, or he didn’t have that skill yet. 

Because, as Steve realized while the soldier escorted them both to a holding cell, this was 1970. Long before Loki discovered his true parentage, betrayed Thor, met Thanos, or invaded New York. If Thor was accurate in his stories, this Loki was the admittedly mischievous but devoted little brother. 

Or Loki somehow found a way to time travel to 1970, and while Steve did not want to rule that possibility out entirely, he was almost certain Loki was dead, killed by Thanos, in the present. Plus, Steve could not imagine the post-invasion Loki allowing his hair to look so soft and innocent.

The soldier brought them to a simple cell deep underground, and he promised someone would be down to ask a few questions before he left them there. Steve surveyed the cell first — high-tech for 1945 but primitive compared to 2023 — but then he turned to Loki, who had not stopped staring at him with a thoughtful expression.

“How do you know me?” Loki said. “We have never met, and only someone close to me should have seen through the working.”

“Should you really be openly talking about your magic?” Steve said.

“You clearly already know, and I’ve made certain no one here will hear or see anything that I do not wish,” he said with a nod toward the security camera in the corner of the cell.

“So you can do illusions,” Steve said.

“Of course.”

“Then why didn’t you escape before we both got stuck down here?”

Loki shrugged, a childish gesture but oddly fitting for his current appearance. “I was curious about how a Midgardian would know me well enough to see me, especially when I know nothing of him, and as you said, I didn’t want to draw any more attention to myself than necessary.”

“You’ve never seemed to care about that before,” Steve said.

Loki narrowed his eyes, and Steve suddenly became overly aware of how he and Loki were trapped within small quarters, and Steve did not have a weapon — at least not one that could fight someone of Loki’s caliber. He had been going for subtlety, and he’d left his shield and other upgraded weapons in a safe place a few miles from the base. However, Thor must have had a decent grasp of his brother before the betrayal because Loki made no move to attack.

“What do you imply?” he said.

“I only meant that you seem to favor flashier fights,” Steve said, feeling oddly exposed even though theoretically he should have the upper hand here. He certainly knew more about what was going to happen than Loki did, and wasn’t that an odd thought.

“Perhaps a dramatic flare can serve a purpose,” Loki said, “but I tend to favor far subtler approaches. Just who are you?”

Now Steve narrowed his eyes as he thought of a portal above Stark Tower and a desperate attempt to stab Thanos directly in front of him.

Rather than answer, Steve glanced to the security camera and then the keypad that kept the cell locked. “That can wait, but as for right now, I have to imagine you don’t want to answer their questions anymore than I do,” he said.

“Oh, are you ready to leave? You only needed to have said so,” Loki said, and with a beep, the door opened.

“You could have done this all along?” Steve said, and this time, his mind went to the glass prison on the helicarrier.

“Yes, and this, too,” Loki said.

He grabbed Steve’s shoulder in an imitation of how Steve had gotten his attention earlier, and the world shifted. Colors blurred before Steve’s vision — his stomach lurched, and his mouth became dry — and then he was standing in a forest.

“We’re just a small ways from the fort,” Loki said, releasing Steve and brushing imaginary dirt from his army uniform.

“I know,” Steve said. “I left my stuff here.”

He started walking toward the hidden spot where he had kept his shield and weapons. The time travel wristband he kept on his person, but everything else he tended to squirrel away until the infinity stone was in place. Loki followed after him, and somehow, Steve wasn’t surprised. Right now, Loki was curious about him, and that was a greater prison than anything SHIELD could attempt.

Steve brushed away the carefully-placed foliage and returned his guns to their holsters and the shield to his back. Loki watched his every movement, and Steve tried not to feel uncomfortable under his unabashed scrutiny.

“Your weapons are too advanced for this planet,” Loki observed.

For this time, Steve thought, but he didn’t correct him.

“You are clearly Midgardian, but you are something else, too, are you not?” Loki continued.

“Something else,” Steve said, and then he turned to face the other with an unreadable stare of his own. “Now what the hell were you doing in a Midgardian army base?”

“Sightseeing?” Loki offered.

The headache he normally reserved for conversations with Natasha started to creep upon Steve. He fought the urge to reach for one of his weapons and rubbed at his temple instead. Damn him, the bastard seemed pleased with himself.

“Let’s try this again,” Steve said. “Aren’t you forbidden from coming here?”

Was Loki always this energetic? Steve swore he couldn’t stand still, and his eyes struggled to track him as he moved. Sure, this Loki was forty years younger than the one Steve met in 2012, but he still didn’t quite know how to reconcile the image in front of him with his memories.

“If you know me as you seem to, then you ought to know the surest way to incite my curiosity is to forbid something,” Loki said. “One can only go on so many hunts or campaigns before they become tedious. Midgard may not be as advanced as the other realms, but it is different.”

“How does your brother feel about you wandering?”

Loki froze — painfully still compared to his previous energy — and Steve worried he had finally pushed too far, but then Loki just shot him a sharp smile.

“Actually, I believe I have given enough of myself without something more in return. I believe I’d like to know how you came to know so much about me,” he said.

Steve made a point to not react, and he glanced around the forest as if he expected someone else to be crouching and listening. He truly hadn’t thought this through when he grabbed Loki’s shoulder, but he had not seen him during his first visit to the base in 1970, and he certainly hadn’t been planning to see him now.

He had reacted on instinct — perhaps thinking of how Loki disappeared with the space stone in 2012 — and now he had a curious god of mischief following him around, and Steve needed to lose him. He couldn’t bring Loki back with him to the present, and he didn’t trust himself to travel through time without Loki finding a way to follow him.

“Well? I believe I at least deserve a name,” Loki said.

“Steve Rogers.”

“And the rest?”

How did one lie to the god of lies? Steve still wasn’t clear on what exactly being a god meant to the Asgardians, and he didn’t want to find out now.

Suddenly, Loki was a breath away from him, and he pressed Steve’s back against a tree, and a knife was at his throat. Steve had forgotten just how tall he was.

“I was polite,” Loki said. “Remember that I gave you every opportunity.”

“Loki—”

Steve still wasn’t sure what he was planning to say, but a moment later, Loki and his knife were torn away from him in a flash of light. The force sent Steve to the ground, too, and when the ringing in his ears quieted, he heard Loki hissing and struggling. 

“How dare you—”

“Silence him.”

Two figures leered over Loki, and one put a muzzle on his mouth, similar to what Thor had done in 2012. Shackles surrounded his wrists, and the other figure — he looked human but more — jerked Loki to his feet despite his muffled protests.

“And the other?” the figure said.

Both turned to Steve, and he scrambled to his feet. He reached for his shield even as a growing sense of unease settled at the base of his spine. The two men appeared in long coats, but their eyes were a little too bright, their skin just a shade too close to glowing.

“He was not with him before, but bring him anyway. I will not have this one escape again.”

“Just what do you mean—?” Before Steve could manage more, a bright light enveloped his vision, and that was the end of that conversation.

…

The ache in his arms and shoulders woke him. He used to hurt all the time before the serum, and he still faced his fair share of injuries, but none of them lasted very long. This pain gnawed at him, and Steve was almost more annoyed than anything.

He opened his eyes to find his arms chained above his head in what looked like a root cellar. A single lantern in the middle of the room was the sole source of light, but he saw stacked cans of fruit preserves and vegetables and burlaps sacks filled with what looked like potatoes. He sat on the bare ground, soft soil and stones and all, and he was fairly certain the walls where he leaned his back were dirt as well.

“We have to stop meeting like this.”

A few feet to his right, Loki was chained in the same way, muzzle gone.

“You just have to piss off everyone, don’t you?” Steve said.

“Why do you assume this is my fault?” Loki said. “It is hardly a difficult task to upset the fae.”

Steve could hardly glare at Loki from this angle, and that wasn’t a very productive course of action anyway. Instead, he said, “I don’t suppose you can magic us out of here like you did last time?”

“Ah… no.”

“Why?”

“The shackles.” Loki clinked the metal around his wrists to illustrate. “They prevent me from using my magic. Even if I could, do not let the lowly appearance fool you. The fae charm every inch of their land a thousand times over.”

Steve sighed. He had half hoped Loki could just whisk them away from the situation, but he supposed nothing could be that easy for him again. He had just finished replacing all the infinity stones, and damn it, but he missed his friends. He hadn’t kept track of how long he’d been gone, and maybe they would only miss him for five seconds, but he was ready to return.

He supposed he should count himself lucky that he didn’t have an infinity stone on him right now — he did not trust Loki or these fae with that kind of power — but chained in a cellar with Loki was not making him feel particularly grateful at the moment.

“I guess you better tell me who the fae are then,” Steve said. “And why they kidnapped us and how to escape.”

Loki’s lips quirked into a smirk. “I believe I’ll tell you those things when you tell me what I want to know.”

Steve wanted to pound his head against the wall, but he was almost certain too much force would collapse the soil on top of them. Then again, that may not be such a bad idea.

Loki wasn’t trying to rule the Earth in 1970, but he was still annoying, and Steve wasn’t about to ignore that the trickster god had pressed a knife to his throat just before the fae intervened. Even if he seemed young and harmless now, Steve couldn’t forget what he would eventually become.

“Perhaps we can come to an arrangement,” Loki suggested, and he certainly looked remarkably comfortable for someone chained against a wall. “I’ll share a piece of what I know, and then you’ll share something of yourself.”

“Isn’t that a little juvenile?”

“I already asked nicely and threatened your life. You force my hand.”

“Fine,” Steve said. If nothing else, this would pass the time, and he’d much rather know what he was up against now than when he was fighting the fae.

“As a show of good faith, I’ll go first,” Loki said. “The fae are a race of elves from Alfheim that immigrated to Midgard centuries ago. Most of your Celtic fairytales come from them, but over time, they have moved from Ireland to your American New York to the American South.”

“Wait, we’re in the American South now?”

Steve supposed that did explain the root cellar and canned vegetables. He could not judge much about what lay above the surface, but he certainly felt cool and damp surrounded by the rich, dark soil.

“From what I can tell, there is plenty of uninhabited land here, and the fae like diverse forests.”

Loki narrowed his eyes, and even with his magic restrained, the way he moved as he shifted his full attention to Steve was a constant reminder of just how dangerous he was.

“Now I believe I was promised something in return?”

“Look, Loki, it’s complicated,” Steve said. “I’m friends with your brother.”

“Why would my brother be friends with a Midgardian? And there’s no way you’re telling me he’s kept you a secret all this time, particularly not from me,” Loki argued. “Unless—”

A thoughtful look passed over his delicate features, and Steve hurried to interrupt, “I believe you owe me something now.”

Loki’s eyes still held that pensive stare, but he nodded and gestured with his chained hands for Steve to continue.

“What did you do to anger the fae?”

“I originally came to Midgard to explore,” Loki said. “Forbidden knowledge is all the sweeter. I sensed an odd magic on this continent, and at first, I thought it was only the fae. I stole something of theirs, and they did not take it well.”

“Can’t you return it?”

“I already did. Now they are angry at the insult,” Loki said. “They are partial to very specific punishments for thieves, and they will not be satisfied until I have served it. Now how did you meet my brother?”

Steve glared at the stack of canned peaches as if they would provide an answer. “I’m something of a warrior here, but I’ve fought battles on other planets,” Steve said. Technically true, even if he was not exactly following an accurate timeline. “Your brother and I fought an enemy together.”

When Loki did not look satisfied, Steve continued, “He spoke of you often. That’s how I recognized you.”

That one edged uncomfortably close to a lie, but Loki pressed his lips together.

“How are we going to get out of here?” Steve said.

Loki glanced toward the cellar door. “I don’t suppose you have any particular skills that would be of use?”

“Not magic, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Then I would recommend you take advantage of any opportunity that arises.”

“What does that mean—?”

Before Steve could demand more — and damn it, he had actually been learning something, which was more than he could say about any other conversation with Loki — the cellar door opened, and the two fae joined them.

The two men had traded their long coats for slacks and thick sweaters, but their moods had clearly not improved since their last encounter. They barely spared Steve a passing glance before turning their full ire toward Loki, who looked up at them with infuriating confidence.

“I don’t suppose your queen has agreed to write this all off as a misunderstanding?” he said.

The two fae exchanged glances, and with silent agreement, one backhanded Loki across the face. Steve winced at the suddenness of the attack, but Loki only grinned in response. “I take that as a no then?” he said.

This time, the fae closed his fist when he struck his face, and when Loki’s smile did not fade, the other fae joined in with a baton. A loud crack broke through the stale air of the root cellar, and Steve knew a broken nose when he saw one. Both of Loki’s eyes nearly swelled shut, and blood trickled from his nose.

“Hey,” Steve shouted before he knew what he was doing. “Hey, what are you hoping to do? He’s chained up. He can’t fight back.”

“If you are in his company, then you understand why we cannot afford to underestimate him,” one fae spat.

“You took away his magic,” Steve said. “What did he even do to you?”

Both fae turned their attention to him, and Steve might have felt more anxious about that if he hadn’t noticed the way Loki leaned back against the dirt wall in relief. His breathing came in shallow pants as more blood streamed from his face to the dirty collar of his army uniform.

“He insulted us.”

All four of them turned to the cellar door where a fifth person joined them. She was tall with long braided hair, and she wore overalls and a long-sleeved striped shirt. Though she dressed like a farm girl, Steve had an unfortunate suspicion that she was the queen. Only royalty could command such attention with three simple words, and the other two fae shrank to the background in her presence.

She stared down at the mess that was Loki’s face with no expression, and then she turned back to Steve. 

“We fae guard a wealth of knowledge that should never fall into the hands of the unworthy, and he is undeniably” — the queen glared at where Loki struggled to breathe around the blood in his mouth — “unworthy.”

“So what, this is all about a book?” Steve said.

“Not just any book,” the queen corrected. “A book of magic that we do not let any eyes but those of the fae see. We found the book gone and the Asgardian sneaking about our territory. He has avoided us but no longer.”

“Didn’t he return the book though?” Steve persisted. “I don’t understand why all this is necessary.”

“We require payment for such insult,” the queen said.

“What payment?”

The queen turned to Loki, and despite his bravado from a moment ago, he shrank against the wall. “His magic,” she said.

“What?” Steve said.

He wasn’t an expert on time travel like Tony or Bruce, but he was fairly certain that Loki from 2012 was in full control of his magic. Had he screwed this timeline so badly just by touching Loki’s shoulder in the army base?

Loki struggled against his restraints, but the enchanted metal held him in place as the queen neared him. She touched his forehead with two fingers, and between one blink and the next, Loki started screaming. The unearthly shriek surrounded them, choked them in the enclosed space, and Steve swore he could feel his pain in his stomach.

He never felt partially warm toward Loki, but damn, no one deserved to make a noise like that. Not even Loki.

When the queen pulled her hand away, Loki collapsed against his restraints, and only the shackles held his hands above his head. Blood stained his lips.

“What about him?” one of the fae soldiers said as he pointed toward Steve.

The queen turned her cold eyes toward him, and she offered, “We will allow you your life in return for payment.”

“I’m not going to negotiate with you,” Steve said. Not with Loki barely breathing next to him.

The queen’s eyes drifted toward the band on Steve’s wrist. “I believe the negotiations are already done,” she said.

Even as Steve understood what was happening, there was nothing he could do to stop the two fae from taking the time travel wristband from him. He struggled, and he shouted, but they saw him as nothing more than a tame animal as they stole his only chance at returning home.

“The payment is satisfied,” the queen said. “The both of you should thank us. You have been blessed by the fae.”

Then with one hand on the waist of her overalls and a toss of her long braid, she snapped her fingers, and for the second time, light engulfed Steve’s vision.

…

This time, Steve woke on the ground, and again, Loki was beside him. His swollen eyes and broken nose were already healing, but blood and bruises still colored his face. The army uniform looked all the more out of place on him.

Steve slowly sat up, and he put a hand to his head. His thoughts felt slow, fuzzy, but his eyes immediately went to his wrist, now bare. How the hell was he going to get home now? Was he stuck here? Would he live the rest of his life in 1970?

The present had just been starting to feel like home, or something that could become home with Bucky and Sam, and now he was trapped in 1970. Peggy was here, but she wouldn’t know him, and she was married with her own family now. Even if he found her, he didn’t know how he’d begin to explain the situation to her.

Besides, he still wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t incited a new timeline or perhaps ruined the one he’d just tried to save.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked.

Loki struggled to sit up and leaned against a tree. They were still in a forest though Steve couldn’t guess exactly where. At least the fae had not bothered to take his weapons or shield from him.

“She took it,” Loki muttered. “She took it all.”

“What do you mean? Is it not like the shackles?”

Loki weakly shook his head. “She placed a block in my mind. I cannot access my magic, and everything I read from the book I stole — she erased the memories. Everything to do with my magic. Gone.”

Steve only followed about half of his explanation, but he recognized the look of devastation on Loki’s face. Damn it, he had hoped Loki was faking. He imagined the screaming was some trick to deceive the queen, so forty years later, Loki could attack New York with his magic fully intact.

He sighed through gritted teeth. “Then I guess we have to get it back,” he said.

“Beg pardon?” Damn, Loki looked young when he glanced up at Steve with those shining eyes, still a little swollen around the edges.

“Look, I know you don’t know me, but the fae took something of mine, too, and I need it back,” Steve said. “You may not have your magic, but you know the fae, and I could use a little insider knowledge.”

“You’re just a Midgardian,” Loki protested.

“I’m a Midgardian who’s going to kick their asses,” Steve said. “Can you work with me to do that?”

He held out his hand, and after a moment of hesitation, Loki took it.


	2. The Average Forest Is More Dangerous Than You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A plan to steal from the fae in three phases

Steve helped Loki limp toward an overhang where an outcropping of rock partially hid them. The forest was thick here, and underbrush tugged at their legs, but he managed to clear away part of the stones and vines to allow Loki to rest against the soft dirt.

“Will you heal?” Steve said.

Loki nodded. “Not as quickly without my magic, but faster than a mortal.”

Steve had to hope he was right because his face still looked discolored and a little puffy in places. At least his eyes opened all the way now, and all the blood was dry.

The fae hadn’t bothered to search him, so Steve still had his bag, and he dug out a bottle of water. He unscrewed the top and took a sip to wet his mouth before offering the bottle to Loki. He hesitated, but as he’d seen Steve take a drink, he could apparently rule out poison because he eventually took the water.

In the meantime, Steve pulled out his emergency medical kit.

“I will heal,” Loki repeated.

“You still look a mess,” Steve said, and he pulled out a small packet. “This is a wipe with disinfectant. Can I clean the blood from your face?”

Again, Loki hesitated, but he nodded.

Loki stayed silent as Steve gently cleaned the blood, and he only relaxed when Steve pulled away with the wipe.

“It’s better,” he said. “Still bleeding anywhere?”

Loki shook his head.

“In that case, I’m going to take a look around and try to see where we are. Stay here, okay?”

He stared as if Loki was about to jump to his feet and pull a weapon, but he only shrugged. “Where else would I go?”

Steve almost mentioned calling for help if the fae returned, but one, he doubted he could beat the fae here, and two, he didn’t see why they’d let them go in the first place if they wanted them back. Instead, he nodded and left without another word.

…

Steve had grown up in Brooklyn, but he assumed they were still in the American South. The air was warm and sticky, and he heard the constant buzzing of insects and the high-pitched calls of birds. He’d hear something scurrying among the underbrush or the leaves above him, but the moment he turned to look, he’d only see the glimpse of a squirrel’s tail or the shiny black of an eye.

He felt constantly watched, and for once, he was fairly sure the paranoia wasn’t from an ambush — just the nature of walking through a living forest.

He started with a standard search-and-rescue maneuver, and using Loki as his base, he explored the forest in a grid pattern. When that became long and tedious, he used a spiral, but he only found more trees, moss, and sprinklings of mushrooms. 

When he came across a stream, he refilled his water bottle, and he collected blackberries from a cluster of bushes, but other than that, he returned to Loki without much to show for his excursion.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“I’ve been better,” Loki said.

Despite his deadpan delivery, Loki did look improved since the last time Steve saw him. All the swelling was now gone, and only dried blood on his clothes and faint bruises remained.

Steve pulled out a few protein bars from his bag, and he offered them and the blackberries to Loki, who regarded the protein bar suspiciously. The berries at least were familiar enough to him that he peered at one closely before popping it into his mouth.

“I don’t suppose you have any bright ideas about how we’re going to find the fae again and get back our stuff,” Steve said.

“You spoke so confidently that I assumed you already had a plan.”

Steve made himself as comfortable as possible beneath the overhang and leaned back against the dirt wall. He unwrapped his protein bar slowly.

“I don’t know much about the fae,” he said.

“Clearly.”

“You do though. You at least knew enough to steal their book and avoid them for a little while,” Steve said.

“Perhaps.”

Steve struggled not to growl in frustration, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Look, we’re going to have to work together here, and I know you’re in pain, but I’m going to need something from you.”

“I can offer lies and trickery,” Loki said. “Little else without my magic.”

“I’m sure you have more than that at your disposal.”

Loki narrowed his eyes, and he slowly rose to his feet, and though he was still a little shaky, he still made for an imposing figure. “And why should I bother?” he challenged. “You’ve offered nothing but lies and trickery in this so-called partnership.”

“What do you—?”

“My brother rambles about the tiniest details of his everyday life, let alone his battles, and he certainly would have mentioned a Midgardian warrior,” Loki said. “Who are you really, Steve Rogers? Tell me that, and I might be able to give you something in return.”

Steve forced himself to take in even breaths, to remain seated even when his instincts screamed at him to reach for his shield. Loki had just been kidnapped and tortured, he reminded himself, and Steve had only entered his life a moment before. He was scared and vulnerable, and he had a right to his suspicions.

Also, this Loki hadn’t technically done anything wrong — besides stealing a book from the fae — and Steve needed to remember that. Actually, he also needed to remember something else — that Loki was a sorcerer, trained by Frigga herself. Thor admitted that he had spoken to his mother in the past, and Steve had to wonder if Loki would have a similar take on time travel.

Before he could second guess himself, Steve said, “You mentioned that my weapons are too advanced for this planet, but that’s not true. They’re too advanced for this time.”

Loki raised his eyebrows, and he crossed his arms.

“I’m from the future. I know you and your brother from the future.”

“At last, you say something that makes sense.”

“You believe me?” Steve said.

“It certainly makes for a better explanation than your previous excuses,” Loki said, and he returned to his seat next to Steve beneath the overhang. “Now tell me everything that brings you here.”

“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”

“You cannot tell me you are from the future and expect me to not ask further questions,” Loki said, and Steve supposed he had a bit of a point there.

Still, Frigga hadn’t asked Thor questions beyond what had brought him to his current state of grief. She could have questioned him about her own future and even denied Thor his chance to tell her, but apparently Loki did not operate by the same code.

“Something bad happened in 2018, and we had to make it right,” Steve said. “I’m just returning something to the past to eliminate any alternative timelines.”

“What did you return?”

“It doesn’t matter. I already returned it.”

Loki narrowed his eyes, and Steve froze beneath his pensive stare.

“When you saw me, you were angry. You told me to stop with whatever I was planning,” Loki recalled. “What did I do to deserve such animosity? Are we enemies? You said you were friends with my brother.”

Steve never thought he would yearn for a Loki who much preferred to monologue than listen to anyone else. He would have to ask Thor if Loki always pestered people with questions or if he was just special, but then his heart sank. Loki was not alive in 2023, and Thor could not bear to hear or speak his name.

“Shouldn’t we be focusing on the fae right now?” Steve suggested.

“Do they have anything to do with what happened in 2018?”

“No, but I thought you wanted your magic back, and I need that wristband if I’m going to get back to my time.”

Loki pressed his lips together. “If I help you to regain your wristband, then you must tell me all that surrounded what happened in 2018.”

Steve shook his head. “We already made a deal. We work together to get my wristband and your magic from the fae.”

“Yes, but that’s hardly fair, don’t you think?” Loki proposed with a small wave of his hand. He was certainly feeling more animated now that his bruises were fading. “I will clearly be doing most of the work in this quest, and I already saved you from captivity once.”

“And then I was immediately kidnapped by the fae, and that’s your fault,” Steve countered.

“You can hardly guilt me for the fae’s eccentricities.”

“I can if you angered them, and I got caught in the crossfire.”

Loki considered this point, and though they had been arguing, he almost looked pleased, as if he was enjoying it. A slow smile turned the corners of his lips.

“I could threaten you, but we are friends now, are we not? You clearly consider my brother a friend,” Loki said, and there was danger in there somewhere though Steve couldn’t pinpoint it exactly. “I will not ask about what happened to bring you to the past. Instead, once I have my magic and I’ve returned your wristband to you, you must tell me the truth of how you came to meet me.”

Loki fixed him with a firm stare. “I certainly know it was not from Thor speaking of me,” he said.

Steve sighed, but he knew this was likely the best he was going to get. “Fine.”

…

When the sun started to drift below the horizon, they built a small fire. More accurately, Loki built a small fire, and Steve watched. Steve was from the more primitive planet, but he had grown up in the city, and Loki knew a thing or two about living in the forest from hunting trips with his brother.

Loki actually said "my brother," so Steve knew for certain this was long before Loki had discovered he was adopted or his fall into madness.

Once the flames cast enough light to illuminate their faces and the space between them, they started the planning, which went about as well as Steve could have expected. Loki spent long minutes muttering and making notes to himself in the dust, but when Steve tried to make a suggestion, Loki cut him down with biting sarcasm or some quip about Midgardian intelligence. Steve pushed back, and eventually, they started to piece together something resembling a plausible mission.

More than once, Loki twisted his hand in a particular way and then grimaced, and though he never said anything, Steve suspected he had instinctively reached for his magic only to come up short. 

At last, as the sun made a reappearance in the east, Steve met Loki’s vibrantly green eyes.

“Well, I guess this is it,” he said.

“One way or another,” Loki agreed.

…

##### Phase One

After a few hours of sleep and a breakfast of protein bars and berries, Steve left his shield and backpack beneath the overhang and started wandering through the forest. Abiding by Loki’s instruction, he picked a direction and walked beneath the thick canopy. Sunlight only occasionally touched the ground, darting between leaves and branches, and the small creatures seemed to thrive in the constant shadow.

Squirrels scurried up the tree trunks and gossiped about him behind tiny paws. He saw a deer once, but she galloped away as soon as his foot landed on a brittle stick and startled her. He thought he glimpsed a coyote, but their courage failed until after sundown, so the creature creeped back into the shadows.

More than anything, Steve was bored.

As much as Loki annoyed him, he at least made an interesting conversation partner — partly because Steve felt as if he crossed a minefield during every exchange of words. When he wasn’t being actively antagonistic though, Loki was almost charming.

He at least made for better entertainment than the birds chattering above his head.

At last, he came across a mushroom, and his heart beat a little faster. Damn. Loki was right.

The mushroom was nestled between two tree roots, but he took another step, and he saw another hidden among a thorn-laden vine. Then another. And another. Steve followed a trail until he practically stumbled across a perfect circle of mushrooms with nothing inside.

Steve glanced around the surrounding forest, but he noticed nothing out of the ordinary. He took a deep breath, and he stepped into the circle of mushrooms.

Nothing happened.

He felt a little ridiculous, and he was a man who had publicly humiliated himself for a living during the war and casually wore a star-spangled uniform during the early Avengers days. He stared down at the circle of mushrooms, but the trees and pools of sunlight and sprouting flowers looked exactly the same.

Perhaps Loki had lied to him. He was the god of lies after all, and though Steve truly believed Loki would do anything to get his magic back, he didn’t really have any reason to trust the trickster god. Maybe this was 1970, but whatever had driven Loki to madness in 2012, the roots must already be nestled somewhere inside of him.

He started to shout to Loki to call off the plan when he realized he didn’t hear anything. Not just his own voice, but even his breathing. He didn’t hear the squirrels or the wind in the trees, nothing.

Then Steve blinked, and between one second and the next, he was not in the same forest anymore.

##### Phase Two

This forest was darker, yet more vivid. The colors cut a little sharper, and the rustling among the leaves left a cold feeling in his stomach.

Steve waited, and after a moment, one of the fae from before materialized between two trees. He wore a pinstriped suit, and he tapped his cane on the ground.

“The queen let you live. You will not be given such grace a second time,” he said.

“I am here to make a deal,” Steve said. “I’m told your people are bound to your word.”

“Did the Asgardian tell you that? Because he is known for his flippant regard to his own word.”

“I come alone,” Steve said. “The Asgardian has nothing to do with this.”

"Then what could you possibly offer us?" the fae said.

Steve kept his gaze steady. He had plenty of practice with not allowing his nerves to show on his face.

"I suppose you will have to find out," he said.

The fae's eyes brushed over him, starting with his eyes and then touching on the muscles in his arms, the clench of his hands, the position of his feet. Steve could not imagine what he was hoping to learn, but the fae nodded.

"Come with me."

The fae turned, assuming Steve would follow, but that condescending attitude only helped Steve as he carefully stepped on two of the mushrooms as he left the faerie circle. The mushrooms squished beneath his feet, and the whole exchange took less than a second and felt completely ordinary. No crack of lightning struck the sky; no purple smoke poured from the destruction.

Steve stepped on the mushrooms, and then he followed the fae, his heart beating fast as if the other would be able to tell what he had done.

According to Loki, no one could wander into the faerie realm unless they were kidnapped, lured, or invited, and the faerie circles only appeared to mortals who the fae wanted to entrap. Loki was essentially mortal without his magic, but the fae would not want to risk the trickster god venturing into their realm once again. (Loki was neither kidnapped, lured, nor invited, but apparently rules did not apply to a Loki with his magic.)

Steve, on the other hand, was quite a commodity to faerie folk (again, according to Loki, but everything had played out how he'd said so far, so Steve was inclined to believe him). The fae allowed him to leave under the queen's orders, but his wandering through the woods would be too tempting to ignore.

Hence the faerie circle.

Which, all according to Loki's plan, allowed Steve to disrupt the power of the barrier by breaking the circle, and even mortal, Loki would be able to slip into the faerie realm after them. Steve just needed to distract the fae long enough to allow Loki to sneak inside and retrieve their stolen affects and pray that Loki actually honored his side of the deal and made sure Steve escaped the realm a second time.

Steve would have had a lot less faith in that part of the plan if Loki had not been so fascinated by his knowledge of the future. If nothing else, Loki was a curious being, and he'd likely save Steve for his own personal satisfaction, and that was honestly what Steve was betting his life on — for better or for worse.

The fae led Steve to a part of the forest where the trees became thicker yet more careful and fragrant. The sweet scent of blooming flowers filled him, and he had to blink hard to stay focused. He was normally used to working off of little sleep, but the stress must have gotten to him because he was suddenly fighting to keep his eyes open.

"What exactly do you hope to gain from making a deal with us?" the fae asked without bothering to turn and look at Steve.

"I'd rather wait until we reach the queen," Steve said, fighting a yawn.

"Of course," the fae said easily. "You sound a tad tired. Would you like something to eat or drink before we meet with the queen?"

Steve shook his head instinctually even as he fought another yawn. Actually something to eat or drink sounded like exactly what he wanted — that's what he needed to perk up! — but somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered one of the last things Loki said to him.

_"Whatever you do, don't eat anything they offer you. Not even a sip of water. Even I would have a difficult time saving you at that point.”_

“I can’t,” Steve said. “I mean, no thank you, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” the fae said, and he sounded so casual as he offered, as if he did not care whether or not Steve ate or drank.

Steve hesitated. He was suddenly so empty inside, and he needed to be at his best when he faced the fae queen once again. Also, Loki was the trickster god of lies, so how reliable was his instruction really? He probably just wanted Steve weak, so he could take advantage of him after they left the faerie realm.

“Perhaps just a berry?” the fae said.

Steve had not noticed when the fae stopped during his trek to the queen, but now he was right in front of him with a plump blackberry in the palm of his hand. Suddenly, Steve wanted nothing more than the juice of the berry to touch his tongue, to revive him.

_“Even I would have a difficult time saving you at that point.”_

“No, thank you,” Steve said.

Loki had threatened him with a knife and gotten him mixed up with the fae in the first place, but he had not deliberately deceived Steve yet. They had made a deal, and Steve needed to trust him, at least a little.

“Please take me to the queen and gather all you can,” Steve said.

The fae sneered, but he turned around to do just that.

##### Phase Three

The faerie court was not what Steve expected, but then again, nothing had really been what he had expected since the day he woke from the ice. Or possibly the day Red Skull took off his mask. Or maybe the moment Dr. Erskine chose him for the army and told him he would be chosen for a special experiment to turn him into a super soldier.

Maybe life just wasn't what he expected.

Either way, the faerie court was particularly surprising as the gathering looked like a bunch of actors from every Broadway musical every produced lured into one place. He noticed some like the fae who brought him here, dressed as if he lived in Victorian England, and he saw some who took after the queen and practically wore overalls and muck boots. Others wore explorer gear, ballgowns, leather, or some combination of styles.

If fae truly lived as long as Asgardians, maybe they never let go of the human styles they liked, no matter how outdated.

The queen leaned against the side of a wooden fence, where Steve noticed a few goats grazing behind them. Now that they'd left the thickest part of the forest, they stood in a clearing where the fae apparently operated an active farm complete with cows and chickens, but they also grew herbs Steve had never seen before, and part of the farm looked like a witch's apothecary.

One thing was certain though. Steve needn't have bothered requesting all of the fae folk to come. They clearly would have gathered anyway to see the human who'd dared to come back after their queen already freed him.

"You are either very brave or very foolish," the queen said, and she idly scratched one of the goats behind its ear.

"I've heard you like to make deals," he said.

"I have been known to dabble," she said. "However, we have already taken anything that could have made you valuable. Now you are at our mercy once again, and I cannot imagine anything you have left to offer."

Steve and Loki had debated this part of the plan a long time. Steve had suggested he bargain his shield or one of his weapons from the future, but Loki had dismissed that idea with a snort. In the end, there was only thing they could agree to try, and even then, Steve was unsure.

Still, he acted with complete confidence when he said, "I am not from this time but the future. I can offer you information that will save your lives."

He expected some surprise at least, but the queen only smiled, almost sympathetically.

"Dear mortal, do you truly believe we did not know you were not from our time?"

The fae around her giggled, and a few sneered at him.

"Perhaps under different circumstances, your offer would still be worth something," she said. "But we have your amulet. If we truly wanted to know about what the future held, we would go there ourselves. What good are you?"

Steve couldn't really offer an answer to that, but thankfully, Loki picked that moment to make his dramatic entrance, something that was not a part of the plan but Steve had known enough about who Loki was as a person to expect it anyway.

“My dear queen, to think that you consider me arrogant,” he said, and between one blink and the next, he was standing next to Steve as if he had been there all along.

Steve glanced down to see the time travel wristband around Loki’s left hand, and though there was no physical evidence, Loki’s magic crackled around him the way Thor’s lightning sometimes did.

The fae gasped around them and several went for weapons, but Loki only had eyes for the queen.

“There’s no way,” she said, hate clear in her eyes.

“I was kind once,” Loki said. “I will not be kind a second time. I believe I’ll take the book with me.”

And with that, Loki took Steve’s arm, and they both left the faerie realm — and 1970.


	3. There Should Probably Be a Time Travel License or Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To 1945 and back!

As soon as his feet touched the ground, Steve jerked away from Loki’s grip. They were still in a forest, and he was sick and tired of looking at trees, but worse than that, the cold was already leaching through his clothes. German winters were lethal.

“That was not a part of the plan,” Steve said.

“I believe gratitude is a more appropriate response to the situation,” Loki said.

He looked down at his clothes with distaste, and between one blink and the next, he changed his 1970 military uniform to his Asgardian armor. Steve almost envied him. His own military uniform provided little protection against the chilled air and snow on the ground.

“Do you realize what you’ve done?” Steve snapped. “We agreed you would use your magic to teleport us out of the faerie realm. What happened to that?”

Loki pressed his lips together. “Regaining my magic proved more complicated than expected, and I hesitated to use it so soon afterward for something as difficult as teleporting with another person. I thought you would appreciate my concern for keeping you in one piece.”

“So you decided to time travel instead?”

“You think you’d be used to it by now,” Loki said, and he glanced around them to the surrounding trees and snow. “When are we?”

Loki had not known how to configure the wristband to a particular time and place, so they had traveled to the coordinates Steve had already set. After he finished his mission — returning all the infinity stones and Thor’s hammer to their respective times — Steve had planned to go back to Peggy, to regain the years he had lost.

“We’re in 1945 in Nazi Germany,” Steve said. And then for Loki’s sake, he added, “Twenty-five years in the past for you.”

“I thought you said you had completed your task,” Loki said. “Why would you go further in the past?”

Steve gritted his teeth. “Give me the wristband,” he said.

Loki glanced down to the intricate metallic working of time and space, and he flipped his hand as if he showed off an expensive bracelet.

“Not yet,” he decided. “I believe you owe me a story first.”

Anger and frustration flared inside of Steve, and there was no small amount of panic mixed into the fray of emotions. When he set the coordinates to 1945, he had been confident in his decision, but now that he was here with the time travel wristband on Loki’s hand, nothing felt right.

“Stop! Don’t move!”

Steve and Loki turned to where three men pointed guns at them, eyes fierce and determined. From their uniforms and steady hands, Steve recognized them as highly trained, but he also knew they were a minimal threat at best to he and Loki.

But they were American.

“Let them capture us,” Steve murmured.

Loki raised his eyebrows. “Aren’t you a tad weary of this?”

“I’ll explain later, but for now, go along with them and don’t hurt them. I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

Loki sighed as if Steve was a big inconvenience to him, but he did not start weaving magic or shouting threats. He barely acknowledged the soldiers as they took the two of them captive and marched them to their camp.

Steve knew he needed to keep an eye on Loki and gather all the information he could about their current situation, but the smallest details kept distracting him. The guns he used during his own training, the clunky radios and encryption machines, the smell of the food he used to share with Bucky and Peggy.

This was his home. Had been his home. Peggy was somewhere here, and he just needed to find her.

The soldiers tied them both to a tree just outside of their camp, so the fire offered them little warmth.

“Spies, you think?” one of the soldiers asked his companions.

“His uniform says U.S. Army, but I’ve never seen anything like it,” the other replied.

“Have no idea what _his_ uniform is supposed to be,” the third chimed.

Loki bristled, but his face remained unchanged. Steve probably wouldn’t have noticed if their bodies weren’t pressed together by the ropes.

“Guess we better wait for the sergeant to get back,” the first said, and the three returned to their campfire. Steve envied them.

“Are your people at war?” Loki asked, quiet enough to keep their conversation private.

“The biggest war our planet had seen at this point,” Steve said. 

“Then why did you choose to come here?” When Steve hesitated, Loki continued, “You did promise me answers, and frankly, what you say better be engaging if you want me to continue this farce.”

Steve could just imagine Loki dismissing the ropes with a flick of his magic and marching out of the camp, so he sighed and resigned himself to the long story. He could only hope he wasn’t damning this timeline in the process, and besides, they apparently weren’t going to learn anything about where they were until the sergeant returned. They had to pass the time somehow.

“This is my original time,” Steve said. “I traveled from 2023, but in 1945, I was 27 years old.”

“I have not studied Midgardian math in a few centuries, but that does not sound accurate. Unless you truly are 105, which would be exceptional for a human.”

Steve muffled a snort. “Don’t I look it?”

Loki gave him a look, and Steve supposed he had stalled long enough. He thought about holding back and only giving Loki enough to satisfy him, but Loki did not satisfy easily, and Steve found himself growing lost in the story.

He gave a brief summary of the Second World War and how armies and warfare worked on Earth, and then he told the tale of how he enlisted again and again to no avail.

“And they call me the god of lies,” Loki commented.

“I wasn’t very good at it,” Steve admitted. “It was the truth that finally got me in the army.”

Steve spoke, and Loki listened, only occasionally interrupting to ask a question about something he didn’t understand. Steve talked about Dr. Erskine and the super serum, his stint as a propaganda tool, Peggy Carter and Bucky Barnes and the Howling Commandoes, Red Skull and Dr. Zola, the day he lost Bucky on the train, his final battle with Red Skull, and finally, going into the ice.

“I woke up in 2012, almost seventy years later,” Steve said.

They were both quiet for a moment. Steve was thinking about Peggy and Bucky and all his old friends, somewhere out here. He could not imagine what thoughts ran through Loki’s mind.

“You said the bad thing happened in 2018, and you walked through time from 2023?” Loki said.

Steve nodded.

“When did you and I meet?”

Steve opened his mouth, but before he could answer, he heard a disruption at the camp. Leaves rustled, and all three soldiers went for their guns. When a man emerged a moment later, the soldiers smiled, relaxed, and greeted him like friends.

The sergeant had returned.

“Don’t hurt them,” Steve reminded Loki under his breath.

“Why not?”

“They’re a part of my army, and they need to be focusing on their own enemies. We don’t them distracted by an enemy that can disappear and kill with a thought,” Steve said.

If he was completely honest with himself, Steve also wanted to get an idea of where exactly they were, and he’d rather find out from the Americans than the Germans. And if these people happened to know something of Captain America and the Howling Commandoes, then he would be that much closer to Peggy and Bucky.

“Captives?” the sergeant said. “German?”

“They speak English, but I’ve never seen uniforms like those.”

“We haven’t questioned them yet. Think they’re spies?”

The sergeant — young, but this late in the war, all the commanding officers were young, promoted early out of necessity — lumbered to where Steve and Loki were tied. He regarded their uniforms carefully.

“They say you speak English,” he said.

“We do,” Steve confirmed.

“American?”

“Yes.”

“Then what the hell are you doing here?”

Steve hesitated, but he thought back to what he had told Loki. The truth was ultimately what had gotten him into the army, and maybe a selective truth could help him here.

“We’re a part of the Strategic Scientific Reserve,” Steve said. “We were ambushed, and we lost the rest of our people.”

“Strategic Scientific Reserve?” one of the soldiers said. “Haven’t heard of that one.”

“You wouldn’t have,” the sergeant said. “I only learned about it when I made sergeant. So that’s why you look the way you do?”

He gestured to their uniforms, and Steve nodded.

“And you?” the sergeant asked Loki.

“Yes,” Loki said.

Steve tensed when Loki did not bother to hide his vaguely British accent — he always wondered why Asgardians sounded the way they did — but the sergeant nodded. “I heard the Brits were involved with that operation,” he said.

Peggy came to mind with a pang, but Steve nodded again.

“Sir, do you believe them?” a soldier said.

The sergeant rubbed the back of his neck. “They’re unarmed, and they speak English. That’s good enough for me,” he said. “Untie them and give that man a coat.”

Steve had nearly forgotten the cold in his conversation with Loki and then the sergeant, but the reminder nearly sent him shivering. The three soldiers released them, gave Steve a coat that hit him with another wave of nostalgia, and invited them to sit by the fire.

One soldier offered them food, and though Loki looked at the army food with clear distaste, Steve ate his without complaint. He remembered sharing this around a similar campfire.

“How long have you been separated from your regiment?” the sergeant asked.

“I’m not sure,” Steve said. “Where are we? We’re not sure how far we’ve wandered.”

“Hurtgen Forest. We were scouts, but right now, we’re holding the line. As you can tell, we’re pretty far from the action right now, but we’re supposed to be called somewhere else soon,” the sergeant said with a nod to the fire.

Normally, anyone stationed in the Hurtgen Forest would be hidden in a foxhole without daring to light a fire.

Steve asked a few more questions about their precise location, and though he tried to ignore it, Loki started to give him a heavy knowing look. His green eyes seemed to pierce through his facade straight to his thoughts underneath, and Steve did not like that at all.

“Like I said, we’re getting called out of here soon, and you can go back with us to base camp. We’ll find your company there,” the sergeant said.

“Thank you,” Steve said. He ignored the look Loki was giving him.

The soldiers started to turn to their bedrolls, offering Steve and Loki a place to sleep as well, when the gunfire started. Bullets rained over them, and two of the soldiers fell, dead instantly. The sergeant and third soldier dove for their own guns, and Steve reached for his shield only to remember he’d left it behind in 1970.

“Can we fight now, or must we concede defeat to these as well?” Loki said, relaxed and clearly unbothered by the screaming and gunfire.

“Fight, but be subtle,” Steve hissed.

He moved to provide back-up for the sergeant and soldier, but instead, Loki touched his arm, and they were gone.

…

Steve glared at Loki, but the bastard sipped his tea as if Steve's anger meant no more to him than a bug's beneath his feet. They sat at a table in London, a cafe somehow unscathed despite the blitz, but rations had clearly dealt its toll. Still, the workers struggled to smile at the weary customers, and the tea was warm, and the food filling.

After Loki teleported them to the guts of a bombed out church, he had insisted on a cup of tea before Steve yelled at him. Steve tried to argue then and there, but Loki insisted, so even though he had just left fellow American soldiers to die, he found himself in the only open cafe in the neighborhood.

"You really ought to drink that before it cools," Loki advised as if he was the rational one between them.

"They're going to die," Steve said.

"Everyone is," Loki agreed.

"We could have saved them."

"Perhaps."

"Then why the hell did you choose to teleport now?"

"My magic had recovered, and I felt more comfortable using it," Loki said before taking another dainty sip of his Assam.

"You know that's not what I meant," Steve practically growled.

Loki narrowed his eyes, and he placed the cup on its saucer. He turned his full attention to Steve, and though that's what he had wanted since the moment they teleported to London, he suddenly felt uncomfortable with those green eyes fixated on him.

"Fine then. Let's talk about what exactly you meant," Loki said. "You wanted to fight and save those soldiers from the enemy."

"Exactly."

"Even though they clearly died in the natural timeline before you and I arrived?" Loki continued.

Steve hesitated, but he said, "Yes, why wouldn't we?"

"You clearly have some experience with walking through time. You said you returned your artifacts in order to eliminate other timelines?" When Steve nodded, Loki said, "Then why are you unbothered by the alternate timeline saving those men would have created?"

Suddenly his mouth felt dry, and Steve took a sip of his tea. Loki was right. It was already cooling.

"We were only saving a few lives. Would that really have caused an entire other timeline?"

"We cannot know that, can we?" Loki said. "Perhaps they all led ordinary lives, and their survival ultimately added nothing to the overall universe. Or perhaps one was incredibly clever or unlucky or malevolent and impacted the world a great deal. Neither of us knows, but that is the risk you take when you play this game."

Heat flooded Steve's cheeks, and anger boiled deep in his stomach even as he knew the anger was not quite directed at Loki. Still, he spoke before he could examine those emotions too deeply.

"So you expect me to just watch them die? Or I can take a page out of your book and just disappear anytime a situation becomes inconvenient for me?" he hissed.

Loki shrugged. "It is certainly an effective strategy though I believe you lack the magic."

Steve resisted the urge to slam his head into the table. The poor waitstaff here didn't deserve it.

"Here is my question," Loki said. "If you cannot even allow a few strangers to die in front of you, how do you plan to live your life with your lady love and not create an infinite amount of alternative timelines as you naively attempt to save each disaster you know will happen?"

Shock hit Steve as solidly as a bullet, and he gaped. Loki smiled, not quite cruelly, as he took another sip of his tea.

"It was not difficult to work out," Loki said. "You clearly miss this time, and you fell in love just before you lost the next seventy years. I can understand the very human desire to return to what you knew."

"And so what? Is it so wrong to want to go back?" Steve said even as his stomach turned.

"No, as I said, I understand the very human desire. I just wonder if you have truly thought through the implications of your actions.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” Steve said.

Loki tilted his head. “Is it? I do wonder when you are going to tell me how we met because you do not seem to have a very good opinion of me.”

Some part of Steve recognized that he was giving too much to Loki — perhaps a part of his plan in bringing all this up at all. He also knew he was a tad too close to making a scene in this cafe, and he shouldn’t be listening to the god of mischief in the first place. 

But a deeper, rawer part of Steve mourned the life he already saw draining before his eyes. He wanted to return to Peggy, to draw her into his arms, to dance with her and love her and live the rest of his life with her. But he chose this time for a reason, and he had planned to save Bucky from the train, and that was something big enough to definitely branch into another timeline.

And what about all the other tragedies that happened between 1945 and 2023? The whole mess with the Cold War? The famines, the genocides? He knew it happened, and would he really be able to turn a blind eye while he let innocent people get hurt?

He couldn’t even turn a blind eye to a handful of American soldiers.

“Maybe I could,” Steve said, more to himself. “I spent a lifetime saving people, and now I can spend a lifetime focusing on me and the people I care about.”

“Given, I have not known you for very long, but I am not sure that is true,” Loki said.

Steve sighed.

They spoke a little longer, but the important things had already been said. When it came time to pay, Loki gave the waitress a few coins of gold, and her eyes widened.

Steve gave Loki a look once they were outside.

“I am a prince,” Loki said, practically with a sniff. “I should hardly think a little gold here or there will alter the timeline so very much.”

Steve considered lecturing him, but instead, he sighed again, a frequent reaction to the god of mischief.

“If you truly feel that way, then perhaps you’d want to pay for a couple of showers, a change of clothes, and a place to stay for the night?”

…

Clean clothes and full stomachs helped, but Steve still did not sleep well that night. He went back and forth on what he would do in the morning, and his eyes drifted to where Loki slept in the other small bed. He had turned up his nose to the hostel, but he fell asleep easily enough. Steve kept forgetting that this Loki was so much younger than the one he'd known.

To return to his time or not?

And which was his time — 1945 or 2023?

Steve honestly didn't know anymore.

If he went back to 1945, he would start a new timeline, but would that be so terrible? He could marry Peggy, and Bucky would find a nice girl to settle down with, and they'd all be good friends for the rest of their lives. Or was he being selfish to create an entirely new reality just to play out his personal fantasy?

When they started this mission, they made the parameters clear. They would change nothing about the past and only bring everyone back to the present, and Steve would be going against all of that if he went back now.

But if he returned to 2023, he'd never see Peggy again.

If he went back to 1945, he'd never see Sam again. Or the Bucky he's come to know in the 21st century. Or Wanda or Clint or Thor or Bruce or Scott or all the others who had become his friends.

He eventually gave up on sleep and idly sketched on the back of his hand until sunrise. Paper rationing was still in effect in 1945.

...

The next morning, they ate breakfast, and Loki gave Steve the wristband as if he hadn't held it over Steve's head the previous day.

"I suppose you know how to take us back," Loki said. "Whatever you do, I'd rather not have to relive the past twenty-five years. If nothing else, rereading the same books and relearning lessons sounds rather tedious."

Steve's lips quirked into a smile, and once they finished their tea, they trekked to an abandoned ally, and Steve sent them back to 1970.

...

Loki glanced around the forest. "Just like that then?"

Steve shrugged. "From what I hear, you walk between worlds, and I've been doing this for a bit. Hardly seems worth making a big deal about now."

"I suppose," Loki said. "Now I returned the wristband to you because you seem an honorable man, but our original agreement still stands. How did we meet?"

Steve sighed, and a thousand paths flickered in his mind. He could embellish his first story and insist Thor talked about him or introduced him. He could invent something about Earth making contact with Asgard and sending Steve as an emissary. Maybe even borrow some plot line from a sci-fi novel.

But if there's anything he's learned from his roundtrip to 1945, it was that truth had always served him better than lies in the end.

"Help me look for my shield and bag," Steve said with a wave of his hand.

The two of them started wandering through the woods, and while they walked, Steve spoke.

"They pulled me out of the ice in 2012. They helped me find an apartment, open a bank account, that sort of thing. I didn't do much at first. It was too much to take in, so I did what I knew. I worked out, and I sketched, and for a couple of hours every day, I forced myself to learn a little about this new world.

"About a week into this, the director of SHIELD comes to me, and he tells me they need my help. An alien had invaded Earth, taken the minds of some SHIELD agents, and escaped. From what they could tell, the alien was planning to bring an army and take over Earth as his own kingdom."

"I do not mean to offend, but Midgard does not seem worth all that effort," Loki said.

Steve glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. "Somehow, I thought you'd say something like that."

"Is that so?" Loki said, and Steve wondered what thoughts passed behind those green eyes. He couldn't say for sure, but for the first time, he was starting to get a bit of an idea.

"The alien made a mess of things. Stole dangerous elements, violently killed a man in front of a crowd, shouted cheesy villain monologues. That's where I came in."

"As if you do not indulge in a good monologue yourself now and then," Loki said.

"SHIELD had gathered a few people like me. Not me exactly but people with special abilities or talents. Your brother was one of them, but he came for other reasons, too."

Steve half expected a comment from Loki here, but he remained quiet, so Steve continued.

"You see, the alien had used the Tesseract, and Thor planned to take it back to Odin."

Still nothing from Loki.

"Anyway, the alien let himself be captured, but that was just a trick."

"Actually, I don't think you should tell me anymore," Loki said.

Steve gave him a strange look, but he stopped. He also gave up the premise of looking for his shield, and he turned to face Loki directly. His expression showed deep thought, uncertainty, than uncomfortable realization.

"You said the bad thing happened in 2018."

"I did."

"Something so bad you went to the past to change it."

"A different alien — something worse than the first one, but later we found out the worse alien had sent the first alien, but that's a different story — killed half of all living things in the entire universe."

Part of Steve remembered that he had been trying to keep some parts of the future a secret for fear of ruining everything, but something about the expression on Loki's face made him want to keep talking.

"You are clearly familiar with one understanding of time travel," Loki said. "That you cannot change the past in a way that will affect the future, but you can create alternative timelines."

Steve narrowed his eyes. "Are there other understandings?"

"There are always other understandings," Loki said. "One was eloquently coined by a human as Chaos Theory. If a system is complicated, changing one variable can create cataclysmic effects."

"I'm familiar with that one," Steve said, thinking of a movie night that involved the original Jurassic Park trilogy.

"Another is older," Loki said. "The belief in the Norns or fate or destiny or however you want to think of it. That all will fall into place as it was meant to."

"What are you saying?" Steve said.

“I am not sure,” Loki said, “but I believe I would like to return home now. I have some books I would like to read to look into this further.”

That should have made Steve nervous because if Loki was this disturbed, perhaps he really had made a mess of things, but somehow, he did not. This felt right. In a way that returning to 1945 should have but ultimately did not.

“I suppose I need to go as well,” Steve said, but he did not clarify whether he meant to 1945 or to 2023, and Loki did not ask.

They walked a little longer until they found Steve’s shield, and he prepared his things for travel one last time.

“I guess this is goodbye,” Steve said.

He felt like he should do something, but a handshake felt wrong and a hug was certainly out of the question.

“You were kind to me,” Loki said. “Even after everything you knew of me from the future, you were kind. At least once you recognized I was not playing a trick.”

Somehow, that was not what Steve had expected him to say, but he shrugged off the observation. 

“It’s not like you’ve done anything wrong yet. At least not that I know of,” Steve added. Then he smiled. “And you’re not so bad, even kind of funny.”

Loki gave a half smile as well, and between one blink and the next, he was gone. Steve wondered if he had returned to Asgard or if he was still exploring. He could ask him in the—

Then with a sudden pang, Steve realized he could not, and wasn’t that strange? He had only mourned for Loki in how he felt sorry for Thor, but now he genuinely felt a loss in a bizarre way. Loki had been funny when he wasn’t being an ass. He had grossly overpaid the people in London as well though that could have been a misunderstanding of currency on Earth.

It was not use wondering now. Steve tried not to think about Loki’s last words on the theories of time travel as he punched the coordinates into the wristband.

And then he left 1970 behind him.


	4. Local Alien Helps Save Universe, Receives Exactly Zero Credit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A plan to save the universe in three phases

When Loki returned to Asgard, no one noticed.

That was not exactly true. Frigga’s gaze lingered on him at dinner, but she did not pry when Loki spoke of his hike to retrieve a particular herb for a spell he was learning. The journey took a little longer than expected, but he considered the herb well worth the effort. In fact, Loki just might spend the next few days working on the spell, so if he sequestered himself to his room, no one should be surprised.

Thor’s eyes glazed at the mention of magic, and Odin barely acknowledged him at all. Loki knew he should feel grateful, but at the same time, he wanted to stand on top of the table and scream.

_I travelled to the forbidden realm of Midgard, and I stole from the fae not once but twice! Not only that, but I met a Midgardian warrior from the future, and I now hold more knowledge than any other living being in Asgard._

Instead, Loki shoved his resentment into the pit of his stomach, finished his dinner, and locked himself in his room.

He needed to study.

…

Loki first saw the name Thanos in a history of the planet Titan. He destroyed his own people to ignite his quest for a perfect universe in balance — one with only half of the current population.

_"…killed half of all living things in the entire universe.”_

He buried himself in every book on Titan and Thanos, but that was not enough. He disguised himself to travel to other realms, and more importantly, to trade cities on planets in key locations. He bought drinks to loosen the tongues of weary merchants, and then he asked subtle questions.

He learned of Thanos’ children. The orphans he created who he took under his wing to raise as his vanguard.

_"Whatever you’re planning, I wouldn’t.”_

When that line of study soured his stomach, Loki turned to time travel. He learned of spells that created time loops, potions that reversed one’s age, and of course, the time stone. He read every theory on how time travel worked, including some truly ludicrous ones from Midgard, and each one added to the weight in his heart.

Loki turned to the book he stole from the fae almost as a reprieve. The jaunt into the faerie realm almost seemed childish now, but the knowledge within the ancient pages was still valuable. When time travel theory started to make him feel ill, he flipped through the book to idly practice a few spells.

That was when he stumbled across memory magic.

_”…let himself be captured, but that was just a trick.”_

It was partially how the fae had stolen his magic. The queen had placed a barrier in his mind that prevented him from accessing his knowledge and ability, and no matter how he tried, he was not able to remove the barrier completely. Instead, he had used a fae artifact to trick the barrier into allowing him to manipulate the parameters. The barrier still existed in his mind, but right now, it shielded nothing, an empty cage.

The book explained how to perform the barrier spell, how to remove it, how to twist it so the sorcerer could block memories from even himself.

Loki started to remove the barrier from his mind completely, but he hesitated.

He decided to leave it for now.

…

Forty years passed.

Time felt immaterial to beings who lived centuries, but as Midgard inched closer to 2012 in the Common Era, Loki found himself spending more and more time with his books.

_”They pulled me out of the ice in 2012.”_

For the most part, nobody bothered him. He was the strange second prince, the waif who haunted the library when he did not lurk his chambers. Unfortunately, his brother still pestered him.

“Loki, you’ve been tucked away in here for ages,” Thor said. “Come spar with me. No one uses daggers like you.”

“I’m sure one of your other sycophants can provide a decent challenge,” Loki said.

He had moved to the library, and while he needed to reference the texts, he also risked exposing himself to his brother. As if he possessed some internal compass, Thor always seemed to sense when Loki emerged from his room.

“We could go for a ride,” Thor suggested.

“I’d rather not.”

Thor never did excel at hiding his frustrations, and for him, frustration bled so quickly into anger. “Fine, then I shall not dare to bother you again,” he hissed. “When I’m king, I’ll burn all the libraries to the ground, and then no one will have to suffer as I have.”

He stormed away in the way only Thor could, and Loki glanced up from his book for the first time to watch him leave. The library doors slammed shut behind him.

…

Loki tried to focus on his studies, but Thor grated on his nerves. Despite his proclamation, his brother returned to try to goad Loki into joining him on some adventure or another, and the more Loki turned him away, the more cruel Thor’s insults became.

He tried not to let the words bother him, but Loki always struggled to focus after Thor left. He started to imagine ways he could get back at Thor, reveal him for the rash bully he truly was. 

His studies continued — Thanos, his children, the time stone, the other infinity stones, time travel, the quantum realm, chaos theory, Midgard, SHIELD, Captain America, Bucky Barnes, every iota of knowledge he squirreled away — but sometimes between thoughts, he started working on a different plan.

Nothing big, just a bit of a trick.

Loki decided to aim for Thor’s coronation day.

…

As Loki swayed over the edge of the bifrost, he realized with terrifying, icy clarity that he had ruined _everything_.

He only meant it as a trick. Just to ruin Thor’s day for once.

He never expected to learn that— Steve never said—

From the moment he saw his arm fade into that monstrous blue, nothing had gone to plan, and his memories were a little hazy. He remembered his desperation to prove his worth to Asgard, his rage at Thor, his turmoil to see his brother once again—

None of that mattered now.

Thor hated him, Odin stared down at him with unreadable eyes, and space and time whirled beneath his feet.

“No, Loki.”

There was nothing left for him. He was a Jotun in Asgard, a monster, a pariah. If Thor or Odin didn’t kill him, his life would hold nothing but despair. He might as well just end this now—

_”I know you and your brother from the future.”_

Unless— Unless this was supposed to happen all along.

_”An alien had invaded Earth.”_

A time traveler could not change the past without creating an alternate timeline, but for someone from the past, their future was ahead of them.

_”I didn’t want to draw any more attention to myself than necessary.”_

_“You’ve never seemed to care about that before.”_

_“What do you imply?”_

_“I only meant that you seem to favor flashier fights.”_

_“Perhaps a dramatic flare can serve a purpose, but I tend to favor far subtler approaches.”_

Loki had spent forty years studying to try to understand what Thanos would do in 2018, but somewhere deep in his subconscious, he had known what he was really doing — preparing to make it right.

Resolve settled the turmoil in his stomach, and he took a deep breath.

And then he let go.

…

Loki had not let himself think of Steve in years, but as he plummeted through the Void, he thought of his steely eyes and his steady voice. He remembered how Steve had treated him with kindness when he had only known a Loki who invaded his planet, how he instinctively tried to save everyone he could. Loki didn't have many friends, but he could almost, maybe, possibly consider Steve one. In a strange roundabout way.

Loki never considered himself the hero type. That was Thor’s role to play, but Loki did not want this to have all been for nothing. And playing the villain, the double agent, the manipulator in the shadows — that part suited a monster like him just fine.

As Loki fell, he shifted the barrier in his mind — the leftover spell from his time with the fae — and he shielded his time with Steve and all of his studies and plans. Not even he could reach the memories without adjusting the barrier once again, so when Thanos plunged into his mind, he suspected nothing.

His year with Thanos passed slowly.

He endured Thanos’ training — a euphemism often repeated, but Loki only trained himself in how to endure pain — and during the rare moments when he was alone, he lifted the barrier, and he planned. Oddly enough, he remembered when he and Steve had infiltrated the faerie realm, and bit by bit, Loki pieced together a plan.

One in three phases.

…

#### Phase One

With a suitably dramatic flare, Loki alerted the warriors of Midgard to his invasion. He only dared to remove the barrier in his mind when he knew Thanos and his followers were far from his mind, but he possessed all of his memories when he met Steve for the ~~second~~ first time.

His uniform was different, and how did he not face ridicule constantly? The garish colors and horrifying stars-and-stripe pattern made him want to shape shift into him just to show Steve how ridiculous he looked, but he refrained and made a quip about the “man out of time.” This Steve didn’t know just how true that would become.

If facing Steve was strange, seeing his brother again was complicated. Loki continued to play his part, but his resentment and anger were not all for show. Still, Thor continued to see him as a brother. That was— something.

Nevertheless, the rest continued as planned. Steve, Thor, and four other warriors defeated him, ended the invasion, and prepared to send both him and the Tesseract to Asgard.

A part of Loki hated to leave Steve, the one person who would come to understand what he was doing, but he needed to be in Asgard for the next phase of the plan. 

Then his mother died.

All of the books he read, the people he interviewed, the spells he cast, and none of it saved his mother. He was the only being in the universe with a glimpse into the future, and he had not rescued the one person who had shown him unconditional love until the very end.

His magic exploded out of him.

By the time Thor came for him, he had calmed himself. Loki had not prepared for the Dark Elves in his planning, but he had known he would need to escape prison eventually. This seemed as good an opportunity as any.

And if he murdered the monster that took his mother’s life, then all the better.

He needed to return to Asgard, but he could not return to a cage. He needed the freedom to move, to pull a few strings if required here or there.

So with a small illusion, he “died.” Thor truly seemed to love him in the end, and that was something, too. An emotion that was not guilt pricked at him, but this was for the best. Thor could rest easy thinking his troubled little brother had died heroically, and in the meantime, Loki would make sure no one else died.

A monster was given the knowledge of the universe. That had to be for a reason.

#### Phase Two

Odin was also a problem, so he took care of that with a quick trip to Midgard. Perhaps a bit of spite motivated how he accomplished his task, but he was a monster, not a hero. He was doing his best with what he had.

As the reigning king of Asgard, he was finally able to enact the plans he had crafted during his year with Thanos.

He sent the Aether — the reality stone — to the Collector. When Thanos learned the power stone’s location, Loki, disguised of course, contacted Yondu’s Ravagers to retrieve it for him.

He never expected Gamora to defect, but she was a powerful warrior, and if she was no longer an enemy, then that was one less factor to calculate. He did not expect these so-called Guardians of the Galaxy, but he merged them into the rest of his plans. He left the power stone with the Nova Corps.

For the most part, Loki tried to focus only on what was connected to Thanos, but his research had led him to other places.

Steve had mentioned his friend Bucky Barnes, and Loki made the connection between the Winter Soldier and Captain America’s lost friend. He never intended to do anything with that information, but when infection led to SHIELD's collapse, he made a few suggestions to a few in authority that the Winter Soldier might be a good tool for this particular job.

He did not try to see Steve or push them together. He simply let the opportunity arise, and if they found each other, well then that was one more assassin on the side against Thanos.

All was going to plan until Thor returned.

Part of him was actually excited to see him. He had let him leave Asgard because his work was easier without him, but operating from the shadows was a rather lonely venture. Of course, he angered Thor right from the start, so any warm feelings quickly dissipated. 

Thor certainly knew how to complicate things.

Perhaps he couldn’t have known about Odin dying or their secret sister determined to destroy all in her path, but when Loki landed on Sakaar, he was all too willing to blame everything on Thor. How the hell was he supposed to stop the end of the world from here?

He needed to return to the greater universe, and if he was going to do that quickly, then he needed to find the most powerful person he could. That unfortunately led him to the Grandmaster, and all plans of stopping Thanos came to a grinding halt as he played the dangerous game of staying alive.

With Thor and Bruce and Valkyrie, that miraculously became a possibility, and they returned to Asgard, stopped Hela, and— and well, destroyed the whole realm. Loki just managed to take the Tesseract before he joined the others on the ship.

“I thought we would listen to father and build on Norway. We can trade our knowledge for materials,” Thor said.

“I’m sure we can ask for a loan,” Loki said. “You can anyway. No bank will turn away an avenger.”

“A loan from a bank? I never thought, but I suppose we could.”

They made idle plans, details pulled from long-ago lessons, but they did not often fight as they discussed the future of Asgard. Loki did not feel the need when he was unsure he would be there when all these things came to pass. Thor assumed Loki would be there. Now that he had returned once, he would stay, but Thanos was still out there. Loki still had work to do.

But even Loki did not expect Thanos to come this soon.

#### Phase Three

His magic was stronger than ever, yet he still could not fight the titan alone. Not like this. He couldn’t even save the half of the Asgardians Thanos immediately took as payment for a balanced universe. So he did what he could.

He sent a distress signal to the Guardians of the Galaxy — turns out they would be useful after all — and then he created an illusion before disguising himself as one of the dead Asgardians.

Though he hated to hurt Thor like this again, he did his best work when everyone thought he was dead.

_“Something bad happened in 2018, and we had to make it right.”_

Loki could not stop what Thanos did in 2018, but he could save what was left of Asgard. That was the least he could do for Thor.

Just before Thanos destroyed the Statesman, Loki took a malfunctioning escape pod away from the ship. He used his magic to force the machinery into functioning properly, and he crash-landed on the closest planet as the other escape pods had.

“Thor? Thor, that better be you because we need a leader here.”

“I’m afraid not.”

Properly disguised, Loki greeted Valkyrie and the paltry remains of Asgard. They huddled in a corner of the marketplace and tried to ignore how the locals cast them suspicious glares. Loki briefly summarized the last moments on the Statesman, but he did his best to end on a note of hope even if he stretched the truth a bit.

“As I left, another ship — one known for good deeds across the universe — rescued Thor. I believe he plans to reunite with other warriors to fight Thanos.”

The Guardians had not arrived yet, but they would. Loki could not accept anything else.

“In the meantime, perhaps we should pool our resources to buy a ship to take us to Midgard,” he suggested.

Valkyrie narrowed her eyes at him, and Loki did his best to look and act like a normal Asgardian though that had never been his strong suit. Eventually, she decided to focus on the present, and she barked, “All right, everyone give me anything you have of value. Jewelry, books, a fine coat, anything.”

Their valuables came up tragically short, but Valkyrie bullied a merchant into lowering the price of an equally tragic ship. Loki would need to use magic to keep the thing moving, and Valkyrie had to know that, but she paid for the ship.

As the Asgardians loaded onto their new vessel, Valkyrie sought Loki out in the crowd and pulled him far enough away to talk in private.

“Can you fly this thing?”

“Perhaps.”

“Then you’re my copilot.”

Loki nodded, and Valkyrie eyed him for a moment before continuing, “I haven’t been to Midgard in centuries. I won’t know the customs, and Thor’s not here to play the mediator.”

“I might be able to ease the way.”

Valkyrie nodded as if that was what she had expected to hear. “I know who you are, you know. I don’t know why you made up the farce of Thanos killing you if you were just planning to show up and help us.”

“Thor also saw Loki die, and it wouldn’t do to spread a story the king will contradict.”

“Why?”

Loki sighed. “We have more important things to concern us now, but trust me, this is for the best.”

Of course, he did not actually expect Valkyrie to trust him, but she didn’t question him further, and when they boarded the ship, she treated him as if truly was a random Asgardian man. They shared the cockpit, and Thanos was destroying the world around them, yet Loki felt strangely warm. It took him a long time to realize that for the first time since he left Steve in 1970 he was not alone in this venture.

By the time they arrived on Midgard in the scrap metal that barely passed for a ship, Thanos had already completed his task, and the clock began.

It was 2018.

_“I traveled from 2023.”_

He had five years to make sure Thanos never threatened this universe again.

The aftermath was chaos, but as life slowly started to shift into something normal again, the Asgardians received donations from Stark Industries (before Tony left his business for a comfortable home with his wife) and the Wakandan government, and they purchased a small portion of land in Norway to create New Asgard. The merchants and craftspeople of Asgard eagerly set to work building homes and businesses. A few bought ships to start fishing. Several researched Midgardian crops and planted farms.

Their life was simple, but no one complained much. They were lucky. 

The government was a simpler version of the one they’d used in Asgard with Thor as the king, but Thor— well, Thor—

“You have to tell him.”

Loki continued to adjust the sails on his ship. His disguise here was a fisherman, for the frequent fishing trips also gave him an excuse to disappear for days or even weeks at a time. He tried to keep to himself, but Valkyrie insisted on coming to see him regularly, and these days, to pester him.

“I do not know what I would tell the king.”

“Drop the act,” Valkyrie said. “You know I’ve seen through it since the beginning. Your brother is miserable, and maybe you wouldn’t fix everything, but he’d at least know there’s still something he didn’t lose to Thanos.”

“You know I can’t.”

“No, I don’t know that because you’ve never actually told me what you’re doing, and I have to say, you as a person do not give me a lot of confidence that your reason is a good one.”

Loki gave up on his sails — he much preferred doing this at night when he could use his magic — and he met Valkyrie’s eyes. The year was 2023, and perhaps it was finally time.

“Soon, warriors from Earth and a handful of other planets will come together to try to make what Thanos did right,” Loki said.

“They already killed him. I’m sure you’ve heard from Thor.”

“They want to bring back everyone who was taken,” Loki said, and Valkyrie actually looked mildly surprised. That was a first. “They’ll come for Thor, and they cannot suspect anything is amiss.”

“Just what do you plan to do?” Valkyrie said.

“Nothing so nefarious,” he assured her though he doubted his words were a comfort. “You will be needed as well. When the time comes, we’ll need everyone.”

“Look, Loki, maybe the saltwater is starting to get to you—”

“They’re planning to use time travel to retrieve the stones and bring everyone back.”

Steve never actually named the stones, but it was not a difficult conclusion to reach. What else would be so important that they travelled through time to get them?

Valkyrie’s expression shifted, and she eyed Loki in a new light. “Are you from this time?”

“Yes, but long ago, I met one of the Midgardian warriors during his journey through time. I could not stop Thanos, but I can help undo what he did.”

She took in this information with several slow nods, and she turned to the ocean as if she needed the steady rhythm of the sea to help process. When she turned back toward him, she was the warrior he knew her to be.

“When are we fighting?”

“Soon.”

Bruce and Rocket came for Thor, and as soon as they returned the other half of the universe, Loki started gathering. One did not travel through time without bringing something back, and sure enough, he felt Thanos coming, a different one, but then again not really.

He travelled to space to direct the ridiculous Dr. Strange, the rest of the Guardians, and a child too young for this nonsense toward Midgard. He made sure those in Wakanda knew where to go, and lastly, he went for Carol.

Even walking between worlds, she was difficult to find, but they would need her.

Once he had gathered the forces, he stepped away. Just as he had put the Winter Soldier in Captain America’s path, he collected all the players in one place, and then he let them do the rest.

He was not a hero, and he worked best from the shadows. He had played his role, and after more than fifty years, his work was complete.

The thought should have given him more relief than it did.

…

There was still more to do. Valkyrie would insist he reveal himself to Thor now, and if he was not mistaken, Steve already suspected by the time Loki left him in 1970. Of course, this Steve had not made that trip yet, but he would, and Loki had to assume he would choose to come back to 2023. Perhaps he would see him then. Loki did not know what he would say, but something maybe.

For now though, he rested.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to everyone for the kind comments and kudos! I feel a little uncertain about Loki's point of view, but the fifth and final chapter will be Steve's pov again. I hope to have that up soon!


	5. The Friendships We Made Along the Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back to 2023 and beyond

When Steve returned to 2023, he hugged both Bucky and Sam. They had seen him just a minute ago, but for him, well, a lot had happened.

“So are you going to tell us about it?” Sam said, grinning.

Steve gave a soft smile in return. “Sure,” he agreed, “after some food and maybe a nap.”

Sam clapped his shoulder. “I think we can arrange that.”

“Oh, before I forget,” Steve said.

He swung the shield from its holster and gave it to Sam, who held it like he had a hundred times before. Sam, Bucky, and Natasha used to fool around with it while they were on the run together. Sam was still smiling, but confusion crossed over his face.

“I believe that belongs to you now,” Steve said.

…

Steve ate and took a shower, but he was too wired to nap. The Avengers facility was still destroyed, so he met Bruce, Sam, and Bucky in his apartment. It was a little small but nearby, and Steve much preferred squeezing everyone in his living room than the emptiness that had haunted him during the five years between 2018 and 2023.

They shared coffee and tea, and Steve told them about returning the six infinity stones. He chose not to say anything about Loki, not tonight anyway. He had his suspicions, but he kept them to himself for the time being.

Bruce left first for his own apartment. Sam and Bucky were crashing with him, and Sam fell asleep on the couch. Bucky didn’t sleep as much these days, so he and Steve still chatted quietly.

“I really thought you weren’t coming back,” Bucky said.

“I thought so, too,” Steve admitted. “I guess I changed my mind.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to see you, but what happened?”

Steve thought about the soldiers in the Hurtgen Forest he instinctively tried to save and Loki’s steady green eyes in a cafe in London.

“Peggy has a life of her own. She founds SHIELD, gets married. I don’t want to mess that up for her,” Steve said. “Besides, I’m not sure I could stay on the sidelines and let bad things happen.”

Bucky’s lips quirked into an odd smile. “Don’t I know it.”

…

Natasha had left a legacy in more ways than one.

With the help of Nick Fury and Maria Hill, they revived Natasha’s system. She had kept a catalogue of every known person with a particular skill or talent, even those who had been caught up in the Snap, and she had logged all of their contact details. Those needed updated, but the system still worked.

Pepper and Happy were directing resources to rebuild the Avengers facility, but for now, they used one of Natasha’s old safe houses, a cabin in the mountains with shockingly good wifi and cell reception.

Steve and Sam divided the world into territories where avengers agreed to maintain the peace and handle problems — Carol’s was the biggest — and Bucky started a catalogue of known threats. For the most part, they let physical location decide who went out on calls, but for special cases, Natasha’s log of talents, skills, and knowledge helped to decide who would fly to help out in a different territory.

There were some bumps along the road, but for the most part, they were an intergalactic alliance of superheroes not beholden to any particular person, country, or planet. If one avenger started to go rogue, the others could step in. It was what the Accords should have been.

Thor traveled with the Guardians for a while to clear his head, but he eventually returned to New Asgard. He did not take the throne back, but instead, worked with Valkyrie on special projects to better his people.

Steve still hadn’t talked to him about Loki. He wasn’t even sure if he should. On one hand, Thor might like to hear that his brother from the past once helped Steve, proof that he was far more than the crazed maniac who invaded Earth, but Steve worried that the knowledge would only hurt Thor more. Because that meant Loki had not always been a monster. Because Thor would never know that Loki or any other version of his brother again.

A few weeks after he returned, Steve finally told Sam and Bucky.

Now that Sam was the new Captain America, he and Bucky went out on more calls, but Steve had started to work behind the scenes. He took Natasha’s role of researching threats and organizing responses, and he liked the change even if he wasn’t sure he would do it forever. He was considering bringing Sharon Carter back into the game, but that decision was still some time for now.

Despite how busy they were, the three of them still made time for a quiet dinner and movie at least once a week. Bucky was learning to cook — he liked learning skills that could not be used to hurt someone — and he made spaghetti with a strawberry walnut salad. Sam complained that Italian was his least favorite, but he still ate two helpings, and Bucky hid a smile.

After dinner, they watched Jurassic Park, and when Dr. Ian Malcolm started explaining chaos theory to Dr. Ellie Sattler, Steve felt a sudden, unexpected pang deep in his chest.

“I should probably tell you guys something about when I was in 1970.”

Sam and Bucky turned to him. Neither one had met Loki, so that made the telling easier. They only knew of him as the culminating event that brought the Avengers together and perhaps as Thor’s little brother who he could not talk about.

“Can you repeat that at the end? What he said about time travel,” Bucky said once Steve finished his recitation of the events.

For the most part, they listened without interruption though they both gave him heavy looks when he mentioned the trip to 1945 and the conversation with Loki in the cafe. Bucky had known about his plans to go back, and Sam had guessed, but none of them had brought it up again.

“He mentioned what Bruce told us and then something about chaos theory and fate,” Steve said. “He started acting strange in the end.”

“Sounds like he knew more than he was saying,” Sam said. He narrowed his eyes at Steve. “What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know,” Steve said. “He was different than the guy I met in 2012, and I guess I just—”

“Do you think there’s any chance he’s not dead?” Bucky said, as blunt as ever.

And that was really the question, wasn’t it? Every time, Loki weaved himself between Steve’s thoughts, he reminded himself that he was dead in 2023, and there was nothing he could do about that. Then he replayed their last conversation, and he wondered, even hoped—

“I don’t know. Probably not,” Steve admitted.

“Are you going to tell Thor about it?” Sam said. “It might help him to have a fond memory of his brother.”

“Or make him feel worse,” Bucky said.

“That’s what I’m worried about. I feel guilty hiding this from him, but he’s been doing better lately, and I don’t want to get in the way of that.”

“What about Valkyrie?” Sam suggested. “She knows him best. If you talk to her first, maybe she can help you decide what would be best for Thor.”

“Wouldn’t hurt to visit New Asgard anyway,” Bucky said.

“I’d have to take a few days.”

“Agent Hill can cover for you,” Bucky said.

“Go Steve,” Sam said. “You know you won’t be able to relax until you do.”

Steve agreed in the end. As Natasha would have said, he wouldn’t be able to leave this thread alone.

…

So he went to New Asgard, and after asking around, he found Valkyrie organizing the newest shipment of supplies. She never looked up from entering items into her tablet as she greeted, “Welcome, Captain.”

“Just Steve now,” he said. “Sam’s the captain these days.”

“So I hear. I wish you’d give us a call sometime. I miss a good fight,” she said, and she glanced up from her tablet to give him a smile.

Steve smiled in return. He knew the feeling. Sometimes when he was updating the catalogues, he itched to go on a mission himself.

“Maybe we can adjust your territory a bit and give Wanda a break,” he said.

“I’d like that, and so would Thor,” she said. “Now what brings you here?”

What brought him here? Steve glanced around the dock where ocean water brushed against the ships. A few Asgardians moved fish and boxes from the deck to the dock, and a little further past, a lone sailor adjusted the rigging. Around them, people went about their everyday business — shopping, baking, farming, tending animals.

“It’s about Thor actually,” Steve admitted, and he hesitated, but he did not come all this way for nothing. “And Loki, I guess.”

Valkyrie tensed, and she gave Steve a strange look. “Perhaps we should go somewhere private.”

She took him to her home — a modest one-bedroom house that did not suit a ruling figure at all.

“We’ve still a long way to go, but Thor and I are trying to bring in democracy. A foreign concept on Asgard, but the old system didn’t always work out so well.”

“Earth’s a good place to try a little democracy,” Steve said.

Valkyrie offered him a beer, and they sat in comfy mismatched chairs. Her home was a bit messy but cozy, and under different circumstances, Steve thought he would have enjoyed relaxing and asking her about New Asgard — or perhaps the Asgard she once knew. Instead, he just felt nervous.

“So tell me about Loki,” she said. “Last I knew, you and your avengers weren’t fans.”

“When I was putting the infinity stones back in time, I ran into him. About fifty years ago. I thought he was causing trouble, but he wasn’t, not really. He even helped me.”

“That doesn’t sound like him,” Valkyrie said.

“I thought so, too, but he did. I feel like I should tell Thor, but I don’t want to hurt him. I thought you might know better whether or not I should talk to him about it.” 

Valkyrie stared out the window where they could see the port and the ships. “I think you better tell me the full story.”

Telling Valkyrie the story took longer since she had questions like what World War II was and why would he want to live in the past. When he reached the part about Loki reciting the different theories of time travel, her eyes widened.

“The bastard,” she murmured.

“Is there something wrong?” Steve asked.

Valkyrie stared at him as if he was a different person from the one she had invited into her home.

“No, there isn’t,” she said. “But I think there’s someone else you better talk to.”

…

Steve boarded the ship, and he felt ridiculous. The sun was starting to set, and he saw no sign of a crew or even the lone sailor he had glimpsed earlier. Valkyrie had insisted he come here, and then she excused herself to take care of some Asgardian business.

He wanted to hope this trip would give him answers, but right now, he only felt as if he was trespassing.

“Is anyone here?” he called.

Nothing.

Steve wandered around the deck, and he occasionally touched a sail or looked over the edge to try to glimpse any fish below.

“Whatever you’re planning, I wouldn’t.”

Steve nearly fell into the water. He turned around to see the Asgardian sailor — tall, blond, scruffy beard — and unlike the other Asgardians he’d met, he looked annoyed to find Steve visiting.

“Hi, I’m Steve Rogers,” he said. “Valkyrie said I should come talk to you.”

“Is that so?” the sailor said. “Why would she deign to do such a thing?”

Steve wasn’t sure why, but a blush heated his skin. There was no reason for it, but he felt unsteady, and his words collected in his mouth but refused to leave in an organized fashion.

“I think she thought you could tell me something about Loki. I had a few questions.”

To the ordinary eye, the sailor did not react, but Steve was watching closely, and he was certain the sailor tensed.

“Loki is dead. I don’t see why anyone — particularly a human — would want to discuss him. Besides,” the sailor added, “he was a monster. Best left to the ashes of history.”

Steve narrowed his eyes, and a flash of anger seared his insides.

“How could you say that?” he said. “From what Thor and Valkyrie said, he helped to save your people from Hela.”

“A small star among a constellation of misdeeds,” the sailor dismissed.

“He could have done more if he hadn’t—” Steve cut himself off.

“Died?” the sailor suggested. “Why would you indulge yourself with such a belief?”

Steve met the sailor’s eyes, and he thought he was starting to understand why Valkyrie sent him here.

“I believe he is more complicated than we knew,” Steve said. “I was happy to learn that in 1970, and I’m glad you’re here now. Loki.”

For one terrible moment, Steve thought he had guessed wrong, but then the air shimmered around the sailor as the glamour dropped, and Loki stood before him.

…

Loki brought him to the captain’s quarters where he had apparently been living for the past five years. It certainly didn't look like a captain's quarters but rather a quiet study. Loki provided tea, and Steve watched him pour milk into his cup.

He was alive.

He was making Steve tea.

He was alive.

“I suppose you’ve just returned,” Loki said as he added sugar. “We just met.”

“And for you, it’s been fifty years. Or ten years,” Steve said.

“Time travel does complicate,” Loki agreed, and he gave Steve his cup of tea before returning to his own chair.

For a moment, they both sipped their tea, and Steve struggled with what to say next. He didn’t know how to approach this Loki. Technically, the last time he met him, they were enemies. Thor had said Loki served Asgard well, but Steve had only heard that later.

But the Loki in 1970 — Steve almost considered him a friend. They had tricked the fae together, and if Steve was completely honest, he would likely be in 1945 right now if Loki had not interfered in his life. He wanted to reach for the rapport they had developed there at the end, but so much time had passed for Loki — would he feel the same?

This Loki was older and more weary. His eyes didn’t shine quite as bright, and he didn’t move with the same energy vibrating beneath his skin.

“Why haven’t you told anyone?” Steve asked.

“That I live? I do not wish to disappoint.”

“No one would be disappointed. Thor would be so happy. And I’m sure the other Asgardians, too. And Valkyrie— or does she know already?”

“She knows. She has known since I first allowed Thanos to murder my illusion,” Loki admitted.

“And she hasn’t said anything?”

“Lately, she has pestered me to reveal myself. Before, we had an understanding that I needed the ability to operate in the shadows, a task much simpler if no one knows to watch for me.”

Steve narrowed his eyes, and though he asked, he thought he already had a bit of an idea. “Just what were you doing? And does it have anything to do with what you were talking about just before you left?”

Loki paused and took a sip of his tea. He seemed to go back and forth on what he wanted to say, but he eventually sighed.

Then Loki told him everything. He started with the uneasy feeling that settled in his stomach when Steve told him about the future, and he did not finish until he reached the present. The entire story took most of the night, and the sky was lighting with sunrise by the time he finished.

Steve needed time to process everything, but small details stuck out to him. Loki had helped to put Bucky in his path once again. Loki had brought Carol and the others together. Without that, they never would have defeated Thanos. He had thought the Loki in 1970 was different, but perhaps—

“Why?” Steve asked. “Why would you do all of that?”

“I am known as a bit of a storyteller, and I did not like the ending you described. I thought if I changed a few details, I might find a better denouement,” Loki said, voice quiet.

Steve nodded, and he finished the last of his fourth cup of tea. “Are you attached to your fishing business?”

“Not in particular.”

“Then I have a few ideas.”

…

First, Loki revealed himself to Thor. Steve had returned to the new Avengers headquarters by then, but from what Valkyrie told him, there were a lot of tears and a few hugs involved.

Thor was understandably angry at first, and the Asgardians dealt with a bit of strange weather, but eventually Loki explained, and Thor was not one to hold onto his anger anyway. At one point, Loki took him out on his ship, and no one knew exactly what happened in the privacy of the open water. But when they returned, they seemed to have reached an understanding.

“I mean, it’s not like Thor’s all better now,” Valkyrie said. “But he has his brother back, and that’s something.”

The other Asgardians took Loki’s reappearance in stride, particularly when they learned the steady fisherman had been him all along. They even acted as if they would welcome him as a piece of the Asgardian government once again, but Loki decided to leave that to Thor and Valkyrie.

Then Loki visited the Avengers headquarters.

“Hm, I liked the tower better,” he said.

“Not as practical as you would think,” Steve said. He pointed toward the holographic catalogue with the territory maps and logs of active avengers. “Our system lets us respond to threats with whoever is closest or whoever has skills most suited to what’s happening. We always have someone here to receive calls and direct missions.”

“You are far more organized than last time.”

“We don’t ever want to be caught off guard again,” Steve said. “Thor and Valkyrie are both in the system.”

“Is this when you ask to include my details? I am not sure how the general populace would react to my swooping in to rescue them,” Loki said with a quirk of his mouth.

“No, I have something else in mind.”

When Steve returned the soul stone, he met Red Skull once again. At first, he’d tensed for a fight, but Red Skull only recited the same spiel about a sacrifice of love for the soul stone. He had left the stone there, but something had started to grow in the back of his mind.

He had already called Sharon Carter. She was coming in at the end of the week, and Nick Fury and Maria Hill were on standby in the meantime.

“In your studies, what did you learn about the soul stone and where it was being kept?” Steve asked.

Loki turned to look at him, and understanding started to dawn in his eyes. “I learned all there is to know,” he said.

“Modest,” Steve said with a smile. Then he grew serious when he continued, “There were two sacrifices made to secure the soul stone — Gamora and Natasha. Is there a way to bring them back?”

Rather than make quick promises or deny him, Loki took a moment to think. Steve practically saw him shift through his mountain of knowledge as he weighed the possibilities.

“It might be possible. The sacrifice is not an ordinary death,” he said.

A slow smile tilted Steve’s lips. “We made a pretty good team last time. What do you think?”

“I have no interfering plans,” Loki said, and he was almost smiling, too.

Steve didn’t know all of what the ending of his story would be, but he knew he wasn’t finished doing good in the world. Maybe not as Captain America — Sam had that more than covered — and Sharon Carter would make a far better director than he ever could.

But this? Going on strange, far-fetched adventures with the slightest possibility of making something right? That seemed like a good territory for him, and Loki had proved a worthy companion before.

“When do we start?” Loki said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading! <3


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